Material dispensing devices of the prior and present art, and particularly devices for dispensing caulking, typically comprise of a hollow plastic tube containing caulking material and a tapered nozzle attached at its wide end to the discharge end of the tube. A plastic tip covers the nozzle discharge opening located at the nozzle narrow end. To dispense the caulking material out of the tube, the tube is placed in a caulking gun, the end of the tip is cut to expose the discharge opening and the caulking gun is activated to squeeze out a desired amount of caulking. A cap may then be placed onto the narrow discharge end of the nozzle to prevent accidental caulking discharges and prevent the rapid drying of the caulking that may result in clogging of the nozzle. A nozzle may be melded in with the caulking tube or threaded onto the tube as a separate piece.
When a tube used for dispensing materials is empty, it is normally disposed of. This increases the load to landfills and increases the cost to consumers. It would be therefore desirable to provide a refillable, and therefore reusable, tube.
The nozzles through which the caulking discharges are commonly made of substantially rigid plastic materials and configured as straight extensions of their respective caulking tubes. Straight rigid nozzles may be unusable in some tight spaces, whereas bent or bendable nozzles may reach these areas. It would therefore be beneficial to provide a nozzle adjustable into various shapes and angles that enable it to fit into tight spaces and reach many otherwise hard to reach places. A number of prior art references disclose bendable nozzles for caulking tubes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,712 discloses caulk tube nozzle comprising a tapered nozzle end portion, and accordion flexible section, a caulk tube attachment portion and four angled caulk tube gripping structures.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,380 teaches a caulking tube extension nozzle engagable to a caulking tube for facilitating a distribution of caulk onto hard-to-reach or awkwardly positioned areas. The extension nozzle includes a nozzle coupling assembly engagable to both soft plastic caulking nozzles and threaded nozzle receivers provided on caulking tubes having detachable nozzles. The coupling assembly tapers into a elongated extension tube having a flexible section which allows the extension tube to be bent while still permitting fluid flow through.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,387,222 relates to a bendable caulking nozzle extension device for use with a caulking tube having a nozzle, said device comprising an elongated tube portion extending between a proximal base portion and a distal tip portion, and having a hollow passageway defined therein. The elongated tube portion is constructed from a flexible, resilient material that may be repeatedly and forcibly deformed. An attachment means is positioned within the proximal base portion for releasably affixing said device to the nozzle of the caulking tube. A deformable stiffening element is positioned on the elongated tube portion, and is constructed of a material that allows it to be repeatedly and forcibly deformed whilst substantially retaining such deformed configuration after the removal of a deforming force.
Caulking material flowing from the caulking tube flows into said hollow passageway, and out of the exit aperture of the distal tip portion to a work surface remote from the nozzle of the caulking tube.
A major disadvantage of nozzles made of bendable plastic is their characteristic of memory and thus their tendency to rebound to their original position. While this problem appears to be solved in U.S. Pat. No. 7,387,222, the solution disclosed, i.e., a single wire positioned in the passageway of the nozzle, has the deficiencies of 1) partially blocking the flow of caulking and 2) a single metal wire provides an uneven distribution of the bending forces which reduces the nozzle's ability to produce a wide variety of bending angles.